58, cloudy, low tide
a woman and her daughter run
a dog runs with a red ball in his mouth
he drops intermittently to keep up with his master
A grandma pushes a stroller
two other children walking and talking
vultures hoover, ducks hurry on the river
My morning walk to the river
find excitement in the moment
experience the goodness of the earth
thinning darkness
voices rising, footsteps of children
soul of a new day
start a work,
a particular work
to find a worthy self
before a final stage
there is a longing
when work is done
life is still incomplete
seeking until the end
doing and giving
the highest region of life
Is it a messy tangle
or a real knot?
She disappears in the crowd.
note: Books I finished reading: The Present Alone Is Our Happiness by Pierre Hadot.
The book I am currently reading: Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Merrily I adjust the binoculars
birds perch on the sycamore tree
sharing exhilaration.
Books I am reading:
Keats A Brief Life in Nine Poems and One Epitah by Lucasta Miller
and The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki
Hummingbirds suddenly
seem to be everywhere
Chasing each other
or hovering over the lavender
The morning fog rises gently
You are standing in the midst, smiling.
I look at you and start talking
to myself.
You ask why ?
My way of clearing my mind
sometimes it gets crowded with thoughts.
Don’t you get frightened
when it gets empty?
Maybe that happens
when someone you love leaves,
walks away.
The hummingbirds leave one by one
and my friend
I am alone again.
The fog returns
I feel cold
I linger awhile
before I return home.
note: Books I’m reading: War and Peace. I was persuated by an article about Yiyun Li reading War and Peace once a year. And reading it along with others-Tolstoy Together.
Also reading Inseparable by Simone de Beauvoir.
The origin, the seed
how one begins
is not always known.
Leaves filter the light
sometimes luminous lines appear
murmurs arise, slowly fade
you are playing with a cat
noises outside distract your attention
young adults riding bicycles passing
outside the window are talking loudly
You search your memory
when you were at that age
developing the habit of repetition
riding around town and along the river
your imagination arranging images
the commotion when fishermen arrived at the dock
the boats, smell of the sea, fish, big and small.
You bike back home
like completing a loop in memory
you will listen to the language of the birds
unsurprisingly calming at the end of the day.
The cat looks quizzical at the orchid on the table
I can offer understanding
The orchid, beautiful and frail
What does the cat think?
Simple or capricious question
One can devote a lifetime to answer
Observe what’s happening in one’s environment
Symmetry and differences can bring,
Even to an ordinary mind, an insight
Or become attached to one interpretation
Unnecessarily and slow the progress
Even a disagreement can be a cooperation
One glance can open an ocean.
Moments move our emotions, our life
How can I move like time
I am a humble hummingbird
Hovering over flowers until I am out breath
There is wisdom in the stones I will not know
Or a camaraderie with bees I will not experience
Where can I go my friend to touch the warmth of time
Perhaps I can find a child who will want a lullaby
My wings can sing her a song.
I have to learn about cricket
A refrain I have to learn one day
The English game popular in many countries
Unlike planting and harvesting aubergine
And what one can accomplish with dyes is phenomenal
The colors are so vivid
Very easy to understand and compose
That’s how the process of learning got started
I have now a beginner’s knowledge
An individuality and growth
I am more sensible, like learning
How to use the proper condiments in cooking
Knowledge comes in circles and one can chain them
Not exactly a necklace but can be a bracelet
Very appropriate to wear.
To amuse myself sometimes I create new words and definitions
That’s not allowed in cricket.
Somewhere an owl is sleeping
In a tree in a nearby mountain.
I can’t explain everything
Though may not thrill everyone
But nestled between them is the word, wonderful.
“Joy like a river in her soul”, words of a young boy
Sharing his mother’s state of being.
A town nestled next to a river
How does one tear down and build anew?
River dredging begins Flood Control Master Plan.
Town awakens, sounds of bulldozers and cranes,
People wearing helmets working
Design to demolish, preserve, develop, convert
Empty complexes, aging structures, dormant land
Long deliberations in what the town needs:
Hotels, shops, restaurants, or something abstract
Community park in summer turns flood diversion space in winter.
Building a promenade on riverfront,
Passageway along railroad tracks,
Connecting Vine Trail, continuity without impediments
Collaboration with artists and role of the arts,
A time for coffee and twisted cinnamon rolls.
One accent, the Passages, a segment of passageway
Once a haven for graffiti’s passion and restlessness
Now a channel for artistic expressions,
Vivid, vibrant, living project
Come, look, linger, get involve.
Walking home I hum a Dave Brubeck’s tune
I prepare smoked salmon and cream cheese sandwich,
A bowl of peach yogurt and blackberries for lunch.
I take my time. I do not eat with haste.
Like town dreamers, like my friends
I, too, have choices and concerns
Should I join the frenzy of high technology
Pulsing reminders of “constantly possible productive moments”
Or walk with artists and pilgrims in shared humanity
Learn value of life, bear the task, persevere?
In my solitary walk, my mind can’t remain still
How will the young boy paint the river?
Let image follow imagination like spells of delight
Art’s idea whispers, shouts, bends then leaps to clarity
A journey of praise of what one truly loves.
In art and life, one will leave one day, the other stays.
I will write my praise.
Hide in a shelter of trees in the woods and listen to avian conversations, sweet songs and chatter
Serenades in chants of love songs, birds flirting, time phrases
Simultaneous displays of affection
When evening comes, lie down on the meadow to ease you muscle aches and back discomfort
Watch the stars appear ten by ten until you can’t count them anymore
Your brain nudges the hammock of neural synapses connecting lifelines of attention and comfort
The fragrance of grass, beauty of flower garlands open your senses to a new chemistry
The body is intelligent in an unknown way and know what to subtract and add in wholesome well being before you yourself knows what’s happening.
Open space embrace with soothing air and mountain views like a sanctuary as if nature is speaking to you. And understand emotionally what the birds are singing. The secret is not what you imagine but what you feel.
You know you will need tremendous courage to follow your own rules.
Some songs and calls are fading
The birds are facing extinction
Encroachment in their habitats or human neglect
The birds chant offers a sense of place and time and peace
We are losing the outdoors richness when our winged friends leave or die.
Don’t abandon the birds, they are helpless pretty creatures and friends
If you don’t answer your questions you have to find one who can. Don’t presume you are the first one to ask.
edgarone2
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